LORAIN, Ohio – A local animal adoption center says more people are abusing their pets—and leaving them behind.
A person dumped a pit bull outside the Ohio Pet Placement center Monday night.
“This is the third time in less than a month that we’ve had dogs tied out,” said Crystal Luli, founder of the Ohio Pet Placement Foundation. “This first one was actually tied to our register, so no one could come or go in our building. We had to have that one removed. The second one was a mother and puppy. Now, we have a dog that appears to have nursing puppies somewhere.”
According to surveillance footage, a driver pulled into the parking lot around 10 p.m., then waited a few minutes before leaving the pit bull.
Volunteer Allison McLin said she found the dog around 6:30 in the morning.
“I got out of my car and I saw this little brown, kind of chocolate brindle pit bull and I went up to her and she was shaking in her boots,” McLin said. “She must have been really cold or scared.”
Luli said the dog is friendly and appears to be three years old. Now, she will join about 100 animals at the center and, eventually, will find a forever home.
Yet, Luli’s biggest concern is the puppies that were left behind. Without their mother, Luli said she wonders if they’re nourished and safe.
“You know, emotionally for her, especially if they were just taken from her last night, she’s probably all kinds of traumatized,” Luli said. “My guess is the puppy would be about 4 to 5 weeks old. Couple things: too young to be away from the mother. And not only that, if they’re selling or giving them away, that is illegal in Ohio.”
Illegal activity that Luli said is becoming a major problem in the community.
Years ago, the adoption center installed security cameras to make sure that animals weren’t roaming the property. Luli said, inadvertently, they’ve been able to catch people dumping their pets, which is illegal.
Now, she and her husband, Michael, plan to install more cameras to prevent other animals from being abused.
In the case of the pit bull, Luli said the center had to take her in, instead of abandoning the pup.
“We probably could’ve helped them. We’ve had some adult adoptions recently, so I have some open spots, but we have a process,” she said. “They got to be aware, we’re here. The more people that know that, the more that they can get involved and the more we can do with what we have.”